Safe From Harm
by poqo
Summary: Being turned into a vampire had stolen his magic away from him, and Zero had spent most of his life trying to forget all about the wizarding world. However, some secrets linger long after they've turned to dust. KanamexZero
1. Chapter 1

_VKxHP Being turned into a vampire had stolen his magic away from him, and Zero had spent most of his life trying to forget about magic._I love the VKHP scene...and VKHP in general. Why does it go so well together?

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"Scary, aren't they?" Malfoy whispered conspiratorially into his ear.

Zero shrugged. "I suppose."

The Alley was uncommonly stuffy the crisp winter morning, an insurmountable and continuous changing flow of people made it hard for the silver-haired boy to even see who his young friend was referring to.

"_I _heard that they grab you from under your bed—and then eat your _toes _first." Said Pansy with a snide sniff, prancing over with an air of affirmation.

Zero eyed her skeptically, as did Malfoy. "You're off your rocker, woman." Retorted the blonde with an eye roll. Honestly, Pansy had the strangest ideas. They certainly didn't eat your _toes…_

Did they?

"Vampires are scary." Zero agreed quietly, voice almost lost in the constant cacophony of the alleyway at Yule time. "But… a little sad too, don't you think?"

Malfoy gave him a confused glance, obviously not thinking the same. "I've no sympathy for them, blood suckers." The blonde crossed his arms.

"Agreed." Though Zero mused that Pansy's opinion had less to do with vampires and more to do with Malfoy.

"I'd feel bad," Zero went on to say. "Wouldn't it be terrible? To never get to use magic? Never know of the wizarding world?"

"Well I wouldn't go that far." Pansy drawled. "They've got their own stuff to do, right? Like suck people's blood and hide in your closets where the house elves can't find them…"

"He's too big to hide in your closet." Zero pointed out, eying the looming man in his overcoat, who looked suspiciously out of place among the bright scarves and hats the wizarding folk around him toted. "And he's not a _boggart_, you know. I think you've got the two of them confused."

"This is a boring conversation." Malfoy interrupted imperiously, though mostly, he just looked unsure and a bit nervous. Perhaps Malfoy really believed that they ate toes? "And anyway, _I've,_" And he stressed the annunciation of himself as if there really wasn't anyone else in the world. "got a fitting at Twilfit and Taftings. Mum says I can have my whole wardrobe done in green and silver if I like."

"But we haven't even got our letters!" Cried Pansy in shock. "And how are you to know if you'd be in Slytherin?"

Malfoy snorted. "Where _else _would I go? Hufflepuff? Are you _daft_?" The blonde patted his arm. "We're going to be roommates. Zero and I have it all planned out. I'll get the owl and he'll get the snake, and then we'll share socks that way we never run out or accidentally misplace them. Right, Zero?"

"Of course." The other boy agreed, though with significant less heart then Draco. To be quite honest, he wasn't so sure he'd end up in Slytherin. But if not the house of the snakes, then where? He certainly wasn't studious enough for Ravenclaw, trusting and naïve as Hufflepuff, or courageous and brave as Gryffindor. In fact… he wasn't… well, anything. He was quiet, and a little shy, and certainly would die of mortification once they all found out he didn't know what house he wanted to be in!

Not that he'd gotten his letter either, or anything. They were set to come this summer, and Zero's heart fluttered in excitement. He could only hope he'd be invited.

"He's gone!" Pansy shrieked, looking around the alleyway as she held onto Malfoy like a sarlaacc. The blonde hissed like a cat and attempted to paw away from her. "Oh no! He—he could be anywhere! What happens if he's right behind me?"

"He's not behind you." Zero cut in bluntly, as he had a perfectly acceptable view of her back. "Maybe he just walked off?"

Zero didn't get the whole vampire fuss. Ever since Theodore Nott had spun up that horror story about a little girl that gets lost in the woods and is eaten by a vampire with the sole intention to scare Pansy, it seemed _everyone _was suddenly feaked about them. And not just all the other pureblood children—but everyone.

Just yesterday the Prophet had an entire front page line on the thousands of new vampire colonies they were beginning to find. The Wizarding World saw very little of vampires, though quite a lot of books were made on the subject of them, and up until then, Zero had just sort of assumed they were like giants and werewolves and all other kinds of magical creatures. They were out there, certainly, but mostly they did their own thing, and mostly, wizards looked down at them for their creature blood.

To be fair to the frightened Pansy, they were a bit intimidating. Who wanted to stand so close to someone who thought you their next meal? Vampires had been persecuted and shunned in wizarding society since Zero could remember—which wasn't very far back, admittedly—and he doubted it was about to change.

"I suppose I'll see you later, then?" Malfoy began impassively, though he looked eager to see his best friend again. It wasn't very often that a pureblood family moved down to Wiltshire, with boys his age. Though one of them always seemed to be sickly.

"Sure." Zero nodded. "We'll play Quidditch again?"

"Yes!" The blonde looked ecstatic. "I'll show you my new broom!" He waved, before walking off in the direction of the disturbingly overpriced robe shop, where most likely his mother and father were getting fittings of their own.

The young wizard eyed the spot he'd last seen the vampire, though there was nothing there but tarnished bricks and an unending flow of people to take his place.

.

.

His eyes shot open, and even the blistering sunlight that seared the back of his retina couldn't obscure the pain that wilted in his gut.

The young vampire stood up abruptly, wandering out of the pool of sheets that came with him and into the bathroom, rubbing the seal on his neck.

There was no point reminiscing—no point in wishing so fervently—for a dream that was long crumbled to dust.

He'd never attend Hogwarts, never have to fret about houses and belonging again, because he _didn't _belong.

He was a vampire now, too.

"Are you alright, Zero?"

His head snapped to the not-so vacant bed, Kaname watching him through the fringe of curling hair, smoldering eyes seeming to bore directly into his soul.

"Fine—" He pulled his hand away from his neck, twisting the faucet on. "I'm fine."

He chanced a glance through the mirror while busying himself with washing his hands, unintentionally locking gazes with the pureblood once more. Pureblood. He'd been one of those too, at a distant point in his life.

But there was no use in thinking about that now.

"Don't you have classes to go to?" He frowned, irritated that Kaname could read him so well, even when he was attempting to school his features into nothing but blankness.

The sheets pooled around his bare torso, and Zero swallowed as his gaze lingered on the smooth contours of his chest, the sharp relief of sinewy tendons that made up his neck and travelled to both mobile shoulders, rolling into the sleeves of his crisp button down as he pulled it back on.

"I've missed most of them." The pureblood smiled wryly, getting up regardless.

Zero shut the water off, realizing that for the better part of the last minute he'd done nothing but run his hands through freezing water. He wiggled his hands through the build up of soapy, grayish backwash draining in the sink. They reminded him of Malfoy's eyes, ironically.

He didn't even notice when Kaname moved next to him, reaching over to pop the drainage. His murky reflection drained, and whatever hazy remnant of a pureblood wizard there had been was swallowed away.

The man was making slow kisses up the side of his neck, as if he hadn't a time for anything else in the world. Zero scowled lazily, but made no move to stop him. Sometimes it just felt too good to let the vampire do as he pleased.

Kaname pulled the silver-haired boy flush against him, wrapping his arms around the hunter and grazing his neck lightly with his fangs. "Why don't we just go back to bed?" He mumbled into the flushed, thrumming of the other boy's heartbeat.

"Mmm…" Was Zero's articulate response. Kaname was already leading him back anyway. "Alright."


	2. Chapter 2

2. Repeat; Continuation;

His gaze lingered on the spindle of wood across the floor. The world was hazy but it was a moment he'd relived in a sick continuation ever since its fruition, and there wasn't a single detail he could forget. The cooling marble beneath him, flushed with blood pooling like a shallow ocean of crimson, fingers he'd long since grown out of reaching fruitlessly for the wood carved next to him, the torturous rush of breath he couldn't quite swallow down as his greatest fears melded into existence, that it wasn't working—

His magic wasn't working.

His wand, the beautiful tangible existence of his magic—eleven inches of walnut, thestral core, and the palpable accumulation of his dreams, nothing but a dull, silent wood that had rolled away from him.

Zero bolted upright, hands springing immediately to the dampness in his eyes, frowning in frustration.

"That's the third time this week."

He jumped immediately at the suave voice next to him.

Kaname watched him through lidded eyes, propped on his elbows and hair a wild halo of curls around him.

"It's nothing." He sniffed, looking away. Three times… three manifestations of the worst moment of his life replaying like soundless film. His wand rolling out of his numbed fingers, blood pooling out of the side of his neck and vision blurring with searing hot tears. He hated every second of it—every second of being weak.

It _was _nothing. Nothing Kaname would understand, anyway.

"You could talk about it." The pureblood offered, though Zero only snorted.

"I'll pass."

The brunette watched him hesitantly for a moment. "Is it… Shizuka?"

Zero stiffened at the purebloods nimble miss. No, it wasn't Shizuka, though perhaps in a roundabout way it was. The moment he could never seem to get out of his head _was _a direct result of Shizuka, though the dream itself had little to do with her.

"No." He answered stiffly, dropping his feet on the floor and throwing his shirt over his head.

"You're leaving already?" He could hear the sheets shift beside him. Beneath the dark swath of thick drapes, sunlight dappled onto the ground, speckling half of his face in gold.

"I have classes." The hunter answered impassively, looking around for his tie. He thought he'd dropped it somewhere near the left hand vicinity of the bed, but he couldn't remember much, as Kaname had attacked him the moment they'd made it into the dorms.

"Zero." Said Kaname flatly, sitting upright. "You're shaking."

"I'm _fine._" He snarled. Honestly, why couldn't he just drop it?

Zero made a move to the closet opposite the bed, figuring he may as well just find a new one, when Kaname grabbed his wrist, tugging him around and back onto the bed. Off balance, he flailed for a moment before catching himself right before he fell on top of the pureblood, face inches from a splayed neck, Kaname tilting it slightly for easier access.

"You haven't drank in a while." The man whispered softly, and Zero audibly swallowed. He could smell the heady flush of blood just beneath the milky surface of Kaname's skin, and knew he was right.

It wasn't even that he was guilty at himself for taking Kaname's blood so willingly—it had little to do with the pureblood at all, and exclusively with the fact that he was taking blood in general. The very thought, when not in action, made him cringe in disgust. Yet hearing the steady rush of crimson liquid so close to him always seemed to change his mind.

There was a moment in which Kaname held his breath, feeling the graze of fangs against the tendons of his neck, as if Zero was once more fighting his inner battle. There was no acceptance for the silver-haired boy, not of himself, not of Kaname… maybe not of anyone.

He bit down anyway, and the pureblood's eyes slid shut.

There was nothing else in the world, no other being could satisfy him the way Kaname could, and he hated himself for it. Hated that someone even had to give up a part of themselves for him to find contentment.

His eyes gazed sightlessly at the creamy layer of Kaname's skin.

His mind watched the wand roll away from him.

3. Change

Miraculously, Zero seemed to wander away from magic during the day. Some days, he forgot of its existence completely. It wasn't terribly hard to do—the vampires hadn't the faintest inkling of the wizarding world, had their own history and their own problems to deal with and it made it all the more easy to lull Zero into a false coating of normalcy. Here, he was Zero Kiryu, vampire hunter and vampire alike. An alias which came with its own issues that generally took up most of his time.

Occasionally he found it a bit morbid, that he could forget his brother, sickly Ichiru and his sad, lilted smile as Zero whispered his adventures of the day into his ear, crawling onto the bed he never seemed to leave and watching as his frail hands shook. Never to be a wizard, or a vampire hunter.

"_Malfoy doesn't seem very nice." Ichiru commented, picking at the linen of his blankets. _

_Zero shooed his hand away. "He's an alright bloke." The elder of the two shrugged. And at any rate, was it really all that unreasonable to want to get along with the only other boy his age in this god forsaken neighborhood? He liked Japan better. Sure, there were more vampires—but what good was a family of vampire hunters without any vampires to hunt? _

_Ichiru giggled. _

"_What?" Zero frowned. _

"_Nothing." The younger shook his head guilelessly. "It's just—you're talking different."_

_Zero blinked. "Am I?"_

"_You talk like—like them." Ichiru smile was small and crooked around the edges. "Like wizards."_

"_Well I am." Zero swished his hanging leg back and forth shyly. "You are too, you know. Just like mum and dad."_

"_Mum?" Ichiru echoed with laughter. "Mom, you mean? And mom's not a wizard—witch, I mean. She's a vampire hunter."_

"_They're the same thing." Zero rolled his eyes. "Malfoy was explaining to me yesterday at his house. It's huge you know—has a Quidditch pitch and everything—he said that you've got to be magical to hunt vampires. Muggles can't do that."_

"_Muggles?" _

"_Normal humans." Zero explained, as Malfoy had explained. To be quiet truthful, this was all new to him too, as it was to Ichiru. He didn't know what a pureblood was, or what muggles were. Malfoy tried his best to reiterate the terms all the time, but since they had moved to Magical Britain, Zero had begun to feel really lost._

_Back in Japan, there were vampire hunters and vampires. Maybe there were giants and thestrals and goblins that ran banks there too, and Zero just never knew of them. Here, there were too many magical creatures to count, and they all had their own classifications. Vampires, Zero learned, were under the dangerous dark creature list._

_Both Malfoy and Parkinson had an awed respect for Zero's parents, and Zero himself, which always gave a pink tinge to his ears. Vampire hunters were some sort of folklore to them that their parents used to tell them in bedtime stories. _

"_It's very confusing." Ichiru sighed softly, looking more then a bit lost. _

_Zero couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Back in Japan, Ichiru had always been too sick to start training with Master Yagari. And even when they moved here, to seek better treatment for him in the magical world, he was still confined to his bed, only glimpsing the beauty of wizarding Britain through the reflection of his window. _

"_I think so too." The young boy agreed. "But it's gonna be okay, Ichiru. I'll teach you everything I know."_

This time when he awoke, there was nothing more then a harsh intake of breath and the slow fluttering of his eyes. Beside him, Kaname didn't even stir.

He never did get to teach him.

"Hey." Zero nudged the vampire, who only seemed to move around the elbow and attach himself to Zero's side with a newfound fervor. "Your classes are starting."

There was an incomprehensible mumble.

The slow burning of the sky seeped in through Kaname's thick blinds, and Zero blinked into the shaft of light that fell onto his face. He'd slept through all of his classes too, though. What was the point in being in the day classes if he was sleeping through them anyway? Sure, he'd miss Yuuki… but the excuse seemed meager even to him.

4. Memory

It was dawn out, and the sky had an illustrious green tinge to it as yellow melded with blue, and cast the world into a shadow of darkness as the stratosphere continuously brightened.

He didn't know what possessed him to stroll about the Cross Academy grounds, hedging his way through the rose gardens and eventually making his way into the center of the maze. There was an uneasy restlessness within him, one he couldn't place particularly.

He assumed that he'd simply lost the ability to be nervous—after the loss of his most important and vital soul, his very magic, after his entire family was slaughtered, after turning into a vampire himself, and eventually using Kaname to stave off his descent into madness.

Yet here he was, steel amethyst eyes glimmering in the refracted light of the water, clutching at a wand that was now nothing more then a piece of wood.

He fingered it carefully in his hands, the knobs and ridges that only a master of the craft could fastidiously attend to, the smooth walnut finish and the thestral core. Never to come alive again.

"_The wand chooses the wizard, you know."_

"You're standing out in the rain," Zero's head jerked in surprise and he tucked the wand hastily into his pocket. "You can't _really_ expect me to believe you're alright."

He looked over his shoulder, belatedly noticing how his hair clung to his face, Kaname making his way out of the gardens with an umbrella in hand.

"You've always been a bit touched in the head." Those dark, alluring eyes lingered on his, the slow curl of a smirk rising to the pureblood's face. "But I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume something's troubling you enough to drive you raving mad."

"Maybe not raving." Zero mumbled, for lack of anything else to say. Only Kaname would attempt to lighten the mood with dark humor.

"Oh? So you agree that there's something bothering you?"

Zero scowled. "Nothing's _wrong. _Stop asking me that." He looked away though, knowing how easily Kaname could read his thoughts through his eyes. He wasn't entirely bluffing; nothing _new _was bothering him. This problem had been going since the moment he'd been turned a vampire.

Kaname shifted to pull the umbrella over both of them, kissing Zero sweetly on the forehead. "You know if anything's wrong, you can always tell me."

"I know." Was Zero's muffled, petulant reply.

"I love you, you know." He said, beautifully—_sincerely. _

"You worry too much." Zero pulled away, suddenly feeling as if someone had wrenched his gut in the opposite direction.

"_You worry too much." Draco grinned devilishly, pulling Zero into the shop with him. _

_The interior was dark and covered with a thick mast of gloom, dust dense in the air and diffusing the dim Britain sunlight into a dull glow. The room was stuffy and overcrowded with chairs and empty boxes, and completely abandoned save the two of them._

_Malfoy jumped up onto a stool in front of the counter, slamming the bell impatiently. "Hello? Hello?"_

"_Draco—stop it!" Zero pulled him back, looking about the shop nervously. "We shouldn't even be here!"_

"_Why not?" The young Malfoy rolled his eyes. "Don't be a pigmy puff Kiryu, they'll never know. We look just like first years, anyway!"_

"_But we're not." Zero stressed. "We've still got a year left… and we haven't even gotten our letters yet!"_

"_So?" Malfoy pushed past him haughtily, moving to ring the bell again. "They'll come next year—" He turned around with a cool look. "What? Don't think you'll get accepted?"_

_Zero flushed. How did Malfoy always know…? "No!" He protested hotly, folding his arms and looking away. The blonde always knew what his greatest fears were. Knew them, and exploited them vivaciously. This time, as Malfoy rang the bell obnoxiously, he said nothing. _

_No one came._

_Eventually, Malfoy seemed to give up, hopping off the stool and looking quite annoyed. "Well, this was useless." He sniffed. "Come on Kiryu, I'm sure Greggovitch has better wands, anyway."_

_With that, he pushed the door open and waltzed off, leaving Zero to stand in the room alone, not particularly surprised. Malfoy's ego seemed to only enlarge everyday Zero knew him._

"_I wondered when I would see you, Mister Kiryu."_

_Zero spun around, eyes wide._

_An old man was watching him with bemusement from his spot on a ladder, wild gray hair frayed about his face and bespectacled eyes. _

"_Uhm—I, uh… I'm…" Zero flustered, absolutely bewildered. _

"_Just moved into Wiltshire, correct? My, you're the talk of the town." At this, he looked down, flushing._

_Olivander only continued to smile. "Looking for a wand, yes?" The man's eyes twinkled. "You've come to the right place, surely. Olivander's always knows the best wand for a new witch or wizard."_

_Zero only watched him, a bit awed and cowed at the same time._

"_Well, come on then." The man hopped off his ladder, motioning for Zero to stand on the stool Malfoy had previously obnoxiously inhabited with a slight wave of his hand, perusing the shelves with idle, spiny fingers. _

_The young wizard eyed the small, rickety drawers with intense fervor, knowing what lay behind them. But the old man, Olivander, seemed to skip through most of them, occasionally pulling out a shelf to peer owlishly into it, before shutting it just as quickly. _

"_Ah!"_

_He opened one of them. _

"_Ten and a half, ash, dragonheart string. Nifty little wand—I wouldn't underestimate it if I were you."_

_Zero's eyes were wide as the man dropped it into his waiting palms, drawing in a shaky, curious breath, barely containing his awe. A wand. A real wand. Not the toy ones Draco had littering his bedroom, nor the training one Pansy toted about. _

"_Well come on!" The silver-haired boy jolted. "Give it a go, then? Just a swish, nothing fancy—_

_All the lamps in the room shattered into pieces, leaving Zero to stare at their dimming bulbs in a fascinated horror. _

"_I'm so sorry—" He gushed immediately, though Olivander looked as if he wasn't interested. _

_The wand maker only snatched the wand back, waving his own to clean up the mess. "No, no. Too soft, I suppose." He muttered to himself. "Ought to try something else…"_

"_Alright now, Birch, twelve inches. Unicorn hair. Bit of a bite to this one." _

_The wand responded much slower, almost lethargically then the other, melting a knut on the floor into a pile of shiny metal. Olivander shook his head, tutting to himself. Zero handed it back._

_Olivander's shop must have contained hundreds of thousands of wands, and yet somehow no matter how many holly, hickory, elms or maples, unicorn hairs, phoenix tails, or dragon heartstrings he seemed to go through, none of them took hold. The wand chooses the wizard, Olivander reminded him lightly, after a ten and a half inch oak seared off his eyebrows. _

_Hours dwindled down, the sun had set near completely, and Malfoy was nowhere to be found, most likely losing interest after realizing Zero had ceased to tag along. Olivander, though, was still going at his wand collection, tearing it to pieces with renewed fervor. As if the fact that Zero had yet to find a wand only furthered his interest in finding the boy one. _

_An entire shelf had fallen in his haste, revealing boxes and boxes of smooth, thin wands, all with intricate designs and knobs and engravements. Zero watched them, mesmerized. _

"_Do you make all the wands in this shop?" Zero asked curiously, having sat down long ago on the stool, supposing that if he had to wait, he ought to at least be comfortable._

_Olivander hummed noncommittally. "Most of them, of course. But wandlore is an art never fully studied, though important all the same, surely. Can't say that everything in my shop has ever even touched my hands…"_

_There was a swooping moment of silence, followed by the clattering of boxes hitting the floor. Zero looked up, head moving from its cradle in his palms. _

_Slowly, almost peculiarly, the old man pulled out a dusty box from one of the many shelves. _

_He opened the lid and peered into it closely. "Ahh…"_

"_Walnut…" The man spoke quietly to himself. "Never would have thought of that…"_

_He puttered over to Zero, who looked up in rapture. He held the wand out to Zero, who took it tentatively. _

"_Come on, give it a go." The man hedged him, and Zero almost startedly gave the wand a light jolt. _

_Instead of another one of the many items in the shop sporadically bursting into flames or shattering to pieces, a sprinkle of light erupted from the tip of his wand, and nothing more. Zero blinked at it, as if expecting something a bit more flashy after all the hours he'd been in the shop. _

"_And there it is." Olivander nodded satisfactorily. "Walnet, eleven inches exactly. And… thestral hair, dare I say?" The man seemed to appraise him in a new light. Zero wondered curiously what it could possibly mean. _

"_Yes, you're destined for great things, I'm sure of it."_

"Zero?"

He blinked back up at Kaname.

"I love you too," He said, unaware, or perhaps simply uncaring, of the silence that he'd allowed to stretch on for minutes.

Kuran's smile turned dazzling. As if they didn't look disturbingly romantic, already. Strolling in the gardens under a single umbrella, looking out into the rain.

5. Forgotten

"And I'm worried for him—

Sometimes Zero wondered if Kaname remembered he was a vampire too. He could hear just as clearly as the rest of the house, who was surely listening in while guiltily pretending to do other meaningless tasks. Zero could clearly imagine Ruka, pressing herself against the wall of her room, straining to make out Kuran's conversation.

Not that the guy was being discreet, or anything.

Even from his spot three soundproof rooms away, Zero could hear the alluring voice through the open balcony, dreadfully worried all the same.

Kaname, worried for him.

What did the pureblood expect? That underneath all that anger, all that stubbornness and all that self-loathing, he'd be some sort of kitten starved for attention? No. The only thing he was starved for—the only thing he desperately wanted back more then anything in the enter world—would never be his again. No amount of peppered kisses, pure blood or whispered words would ever fix that.

And maybe he didn't want to be whole, anyway. What was the point, when such a gaping part of him would always be missing?

"Has he told you what's wrong?" Takuma, you adorable little fool. Always looking out and genuinely caring for every bleeding heart out there.

"Not a thing. Surely, he's alluded to it somewhere though…"

"Perhaps he's just not used to…being a vampire?" And then, after a terse beat of silence. "Perhaps he doesn't want to be?" That was an understatement.

Kuran sighed, and Zero felt like he could feel the rush of heated breath from yards away, so accustomed to it he was. "There's nothing else I could help him with, if that were the case." There was a bit of defeated bitterness in his voice. "Except help him cope."

"If it's any consolation, I think you've been brilliant with that already."

From Kuran's noise of frustration, it probably wasn't at all.

Maybe, maybe somewhere along the way he could've excepted himself as a dark creature, had it not been a the cost of himself. Werewolves had magic, goblins and house elves had magic, hell, even _vampires _had their own crazy magic. But not him. Not an ex-human, who's pure magical blood was seared into the dirtied mixture it was. What would Malfoy call him now? Surely he was worse than any mudblood.

He didn't _mean _to make Kuran worried. Just like he didn't mean to push Yuuki away all the time. But what else could he do? Yuuki would never, _ever_ understand what it felt like to have everything precious to you, your entire future ripped away from you. Never to be what you were intended, though it had dangled so closely to your eyes anyway. He was a vampire hunter, sure, just like his parents. But there was no magic, just a handful of anti-vampire weapons and anti-vampire charms, a lot of running and a good aim. And Kuran, well Kuran was born at the top of all the other Vampires, a king among them. Certainly there was nowhere higher, no more that he could possibly achieve.

Zero let out an exasperated breath.

And where did that leave him? Waiting with bated breath at the dusted remains of his own future?

It had been seven years now, when was he going to stop lingering on this?

There was nothing left of the wizarding world to him. Just a piece of wood, a handful of half remembered spells and a gryffindor scarf from a girl he used to know.

By the time Kuran came back into the room, Zero was fast asleep, splayed onto the covers and head titled to the side, silvery hair framing his face. Kaname realized he'd left the balcony door open with an exasperated sigh. Zero had most likely spent the majority of the night listening in on his and Takuma's conversation—all of which surrounded on him.

He started unbuttoning his shirt, readying for bed, but stopped in favor of sitting next to Zero's sleeping form, gazing fondly at the line of lashes creating spiky shadows down his face. The ex-human stirred, moving away from him and mumbling in his sleep.

Kaname blinked curiously at the words. "Hermione?" He whispered, though Zero had obviously not heard him.

"_A mudblood." Malfoy hissed, like an angry, spitting kneazle. "How could you possibly be in cohorts with a mudblood of all people, Kiryu?"_

"_Cohorts?" Echoed the young wizard aloud. "And err—I hadn't meant to, honest. I didn't know she was a, well, a mudblood." Not that he properly knew what the term meant, anyway. All he was aware of was that it was quite a vulgar, unnecessary term for someone who's parents weren't magical. Though Zero didn't see what was particularly wrong with that. Wasn't magic a gift? What a gift to be bestowed, regardless of if it was on someone who hadn't even the slightest idea of what it was. _

_Malfoy sneered in response. _

"_Her name's Hermione." Zero added as a cautious afterthought, not knowing what else to say. "She's real nice."_

"_They're all nice." Malfoy sniffed, though Zero thought he was more put off on the fact that Zero had made other friends besides him. "But they're awful, all of them. They taint our blood and make us weak. That's what my dad says."_

"_You're dad says a lot of things." Zero pointed out. "Not all of them particularly true."_

_Malfoy flushed, though knew he had been bested. The great Mister Malfoy himself had insisted that the Chudley Cannons would win the Quidditch World Cup earlier that week—though instead they faced a devastating shutout and were meant to become the worst team the league had seen in centuries. _

"_At any rate," Malfoy began hastily. "I don't think you should hang out with her anymore. I forbid it."_

"_You can't forbid me!" Zero yelped, indignantly. "I'm not—not your house elf, Malfoy! You can't order me around!"_

_The blonde looked confused. "Why ever not?"_

_Zero just made a vague noise of frustration, before stomping off. Malfoy could go ahead and sulk around with his mother in Twilfit and Taftings all day, or else do as he pleased. Zero wouldn't entertain him for the hours on end his mum spent in Diagon Alley if he was going to act like _that.

_He was making his way back to the bookstore, in hopes of finding something for Ichiru, when he spotted the subject of their musings at the ice cream parlor. _

"_Hermione." He greeted, cordially._

_She beamed at him through her bushy hair. Zero didn't see what was particularly wrong with her. She seemed more interested in magic then Malfoy, who claimed to be the magically superior of them. Yet Zero doubted Malfoy knew the unlocking charm, or how many house cups Ravenclaw had won (though that was unnecessary and slightly useless, as were quite a few of the things Hermione knew). Or, on the subject, had his wand, either. A sore point between the two of them._

"_You've got one too?" Zero's eyes widened, motioning to Hermione's wand. _

"_Ten and three quarters." She smiled widely at him, motioning for him to sit. "My mum and dad were here earlier—they went back to a coffee shop on the muggle side—and decided I should buy my wand a bit early. It's vinewood." She added, proudly. _

"_It's pretty." Zero nodded. _

"_We're not supposed to do any magic," Hermione whispered conspiratorially. "But well, they can't stop us from buying spell books, right? I've found a few I'm fairly sure I can do—I've tried a few." She admitted quietly. _

_Zero didn't think this such a large crime. After all, in the confines of the safely warded Malfoy Manor, Draco sure did his fair share. As did Zero, with the blonde, or to entertain Ichiru. Albeit, he didn't know a very good amount of spells. Certainly not like Hermione._

"_Incidentally," The girl sipped her tea. Zero blinked. When had she gotten that? "You should be careful."_

_He looked around. They weren't basking in the murky London sunshine, rather, the wintry spill of moonlight in Kuran's sitting room. Hermione looked quite at ease, but Zero sat tensely in his seat. The vampire could be coming out any moment. Would Hermione scream? _

"_About what?"_

"_Those vampires." _

_Zero eyed her warily. "What about them?" Wasn't he one too? _

"_You think about them an awful lot." She began in her cordial voice, tilting her head. "Don't you suppose you ought to stop?"_

"_Ought to stop _what_?" He echoed in frustration. "I can't, Hermione! I'm one of them, remember?"_

"_Of course not." She chided. "You're a wizard, Zero."_

"_I could try to be one, surely." He pouted miserably. "But it wouldn't change the fact that I'm not. Not any more, at any rate. My magic's gone, Hermione." He gulped, looking away. Hands shaking. "It's been gone since that vampire bit me."_

"_Well," Hermione pressed on. "Have you tried?"_

"_Tried?" Zero blinked. Blood running down the side of his burning neck, the searing pain of poison distorting his very structure, burning at his magic, the useless wand rolling away from him, Shizuka's bloody eyes staring down at him. _

_He raised his wand from his pocket, though he didn't remember putting it there. _

_She was watching him satisfactorily. The world was dark. He couldn't let it go on like this._

"_Lumos…"_

The wand brightened, or perhaps that was just the sunlight on the other side of his eyelids. Zero awoke sleepily to early morning, Kuran completely collapsed on top of him. The pureblood nuzzled into his neck, making slow lines down his throat and sucking to make—

"Hey!" Zero sat upright, the pureblood rolling off him amusedly. His hand flew to his neck, still wet from the kisses, most likely covered in, in—. He flushed.

"I was wondering when you were going to wake up." The brunette propped himself on an elbow, bemused smile not reaching his eyes. Guiltily, Zero couldn't face his eyes, knowing the worry in them was completely centered on him.

"So you decided to mark me?" He muttered angrily, sliding off of the pureblood's sinfully comfortable bed, and ambling in the general direction of his clothes. He'd be getting hell for this from the entirety of the day class. Just great.

"Is it so bad to be marked by me?" The pureblood countered with a hint of bitterness.

Zero paused, turning to look at him over his shoulder.

Why was he being so defensive?

Could Kuran possibly be… hurt that Zero wasn't opening up to him? A part of him wanted to snort incredulously. Honestly, what did the guy expect? Barging into his life, coercing him and manipulating him into this twisted relationship on the premise of blood in exchange for body. Somewhere along the line, the pureblood had actually ended up genuinely having feelings for him—and who's fault was that? Zero didn't ask for this. And yet, he'd be lying if he said he didn't have feelings for Kuran in turn. He wouldn't have stuck around, if otherwise.

Zero sighed. "Of course not."

But Kaname was looking for something else, it seemed.

"It's not you, you know." Zero said, finally. Kaname watched him with bated breath. "I've just been having… weird dreams…"He looked down. "I don't know what to make of them."

He looked over to the man lounging in bed with a small smile. "You worry too much."

Kaname chuckled, though it seemed forced. "So you've said before."

6. Unintentional

Kaname did worry too much.

But Yuuki did more.

Sometimes Zero wondered if they could possibly be related. Yuuki was tenaciously stubborn, more so then him, even, and never seemed to leave him alone. As if he'd break while she wasn't looking. There was no such breaking, at least, nothing that hadn't been broken already. Kaname was just as stubborn, though a thousand times more manipulative then the innocent, naïve Yuuki, who believed the best way to get Zero to open up was sitting him down and looking at him with big brown eyes.

"I'm fine." He mumbled, frustrated. How many times had those words come out of his mouth this week? More then twenty, surely.

Yuuki pursed her lips, stabbing her parfait with more force then necessary. "Is it Kaname-senpai?" She asked, hesitantly. "Is he treating you wrongly? Should I go over there? Are you hungry? Is he not _feeding _you? !"

Zero pushed her away, quite literally, actually, as she was near yelling in his ear.

"He's done nothing wrong!" For once in his entire life. And, for that matter, this was a first in the fact that Zero was actually standing up for him, to _Yuuki. _The world worked in strange ways. "You're overreacting." He muttered, stabbing fruitlessly at his food.

Luckily, the courtyard in which Yuuki had designated for lunch today was miraculously devoid of other students, and no one had heard their conversation, embarrassing as it was.

Yuuki was watching him oddly. "Does he love you, Zero?"

Zero flushed.

Kuran, lingering above him, elbows trapping him on either side of his face and that alluring, smoldering look to his eyes. _"I love you, Zero."_

"Does he?" Yuuki pressed.

"I—I—" Zero blinked, surprised at her sudden intense intrusion into his personal life. "Yeah. I guess."

"You guess?" The small girl howled. Obviously the wrong answer.

"I mean… yes! Yes, he definitely does." He backtracked hastily, hoping to please her. The last thing he needed was a Yuuki on rampage. God knows what she'd do in the face of his nonexistent 'virtue'. "You're worrying about nothing, Yuuki."

She watched him, blinking slowly. Zero hated how it was almost like she stared right through him. It was unnerving. Aggravating.

"Zero.." The girl trailed off, looking like someone had killed her puppy, or worse, that her _own _romantic relationship was falling apart. Not his. "Do you… do you…." She swallowed thickly. "Not love h_im_?"

He knew Yuuki hadn't meant to—but it only made him feel more like crap.

7. Distance.

"You're closing me out, again." Kuran sighed, looking as if he'd dejectedly resigned to the fate in defeat.

Zero made a vague noise, turning his head away. "Unintentionally."

His head was turned around, and he was pressed beneath the vampire, who held him less with his arms and more with his burning sienna gaze. "Even now… while we're so close together…" Close together? Try _joined_ together. Zero groaned in response to Kuran's sudden jerked movement, as if emphasizing his point, driving his cock deeper into the hot body beneath him.

"K—Kaname…" He trailed off, face flushed. They were still connected. Couldn't this conversation wait until after?

"You're not even looking at me…" The pureblood trailed off.

Maybe because he was trying so god damn hard not to _come, _though Kaname had clearly ruined the moment enough for it to no longer be a dire situation in need of all his attention. His eyes opened narrowly, lingering on the almost melancholic brown of the other vampire.

"Wha—

The elder vampire only leaned in softly, pressing his lips chastely against Zero's. The silver haired ex-hunter almost melted. Fucking was nothing knew to him—but this wasn't fucking, not in any sense of the word. This was slow and almost _too _intimate for Zero's liking, the way Kaname's eyes trailed over him almost languidly, how he seemed to take everything in, how he eased himself in and dragged out slowly, making every inch of him ache and burn.

He came close enough that the two of them may as well have been one person. "How close am I to you, Zero?"

Was that supposed to be rhetorical?

Because his mind was a million miles away.

He wrenched it back though, peeled open his eyes to stare deeply into Kaname's, no matter how cliché and embarrassing the act may seem. He didn't like what he saw there.

Zero leaned up, licking into the pureblood's mouth. Kuran let him, not even putting up a fucking fight, like he was relieved that Zero wanted anything at all. It made his heart clench—he had to be the shittiest boyfriend ever, constantly moping and brooding over something he'd never reveal, settled into his gloom like it cloaked around him. He pulled away, just enough so that their breath mingled, so that he could look to where Kaname's eyes closed, lashes ghosting against the paleness of his cheeks. He didn't get what Kaname saw in him. Didn't get why he deserved him, something so beautiful and _perfect, _when everything else that was beautiful and perfect in his world had been ripped away.

"So close," He whispered breathlessly into Kaname's ear. "So close that I can feel you, everywhere inside me."

Kaname groaned, dropping his head onto Zero's shoulder, plunging in with a long, delicious stroke that moved through him in all the right ways. There was no stopping either of them after that.

He felt better afterwards—more like himself. Like this, Kaname draped all over him, all _in _him, the pureblood managed to seal all the cracks, cover them up or maybe even fill them completely. He felt… whole, again. If only for this moment. The vampire grunted in what could have been supreme effort, getting up onto his elbows. Even that little distance was too much. His hand shot out to stop him, Kaname's eyes lingering questioningly on his.

"No, don't pull out." His eyes fluttered shut, but his hand found Kuran's anyway. "_I want to feel you…"_

"_Jesus, _Zero." He collapsed back against him.

Zero didn't reply in return, tilting his head to breath in the other vampire's scent; wishing that he could feel this complete forever.


End file.
